New Kid on the Sandlot
by Southern Steel
Summary: A new kid arrives on the Sandlot and the gang is in for an adventure like they have never seen before.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi!!!!! This is my first fanfiction ever, so please don't be too hard on me. Disclamer: I don't own anything!!! Feel free to review and tell me anything that you think needs improvement. **_

_CHAPTER 1 The New Kid_

_It was 3:00 on a Friday afternoon in May of 1963. A moving truck sat in front of a blue house. The truck pulled out as the last box was placed on the ground with more boxes. An older man with balding black hair who stood about six foot two bent down and picked up three boxes and carried them into the house. The only other person in the yard stood there for a second before lifting her own boxes and heading into the house. She had short black hair that was cut like a boys. She stood about five-five and had blue-gray eyes. She wore a gray T-shirt with a gray baseball jersey over it and old jeans with a few small tears in them. _

_She took the box into the house and sat it down in the hallway. The older man, her father, had seated himself in the recliner._

"_Bo." He yawned. "Why don't you go ahead and bring the rest of the boxes in. You take your stuff to your room and just leave my stuff and everything else in the hall."_

"_Yes sir." Bo sighed and headed back out. _

_She scanned the boxes. There was only about fifteen left. She sighed again and went to the boxes that didn't belong to her. She picked up two at once and nearly stumbled under the weight. _

"_What's in these things?" she muttered, "Rocks?" _

_She struggled to the door and laid them just inside the door. She then headed back and took two more boxes. It seemed to her that these two were even heavier. She hurried as fast as she could and placed them inside the door. After five more trips, she had finally finished taking her father's stuff in. _

"_Now for my stuff." She said aloud. _

_She walked out to her boxes. She then bent down and picked up one of the boxes and turned to the house. After three trips, she had carried all of her stuff to her new room. She looked around her room as she sat on her bed. The room was a dark shade of blue and held only a dresser, the bed, a nightstand, and a closet. She sighed and started unpacking. She put all of her clothes, which consisted only of T-shirts and jeans and a couple of one pieced bathing suits and some shorts, in the closet and some in the dresser. She then opened the remaining boxes and pulled everything out. First she took out her baseball trophies and placed them on top of the dresser. She placed her baseball card collection beside them with pictures of her family on the small night stand beside the bed. She took out her baseball bat and glove and placed them, along with a few baseballs, in a corner of the room near the door. . _

_Once she was done unpacking, she picked up her bat, glove, and ball and walked out of the house._

"_I'm gonna go walk around, Dad!" she called.  
The only answer she received was a grunt. _

_She shrugged and headed out. She didn't know where she was going. After a few minutes she ended up at a drugstore called Vincent's Drugstore. She kept walking for a few minutes until she came upon a sandlot. _

"_Perfect." She said aloud as she walked into the deserted baseball field. _

_She placed her bat on the ground, put on her glove, and threw the ball against the fence and catching it. She had been doing that for about five minutes when she heard boy's voices approaching. She ignored the noise and continued throwing the ball against the fence._

"_Hey you!" a boy's voice called out from behind her. "What do you think your doing?" _

_She turned around and faced them. There were eight boys standing in front of her. All had wet hair, leading her to believe that they had been swimming. _

"_What's it look like I'm doing?" she snapped. _

_The boy's eyes widened in surprise._

"_You're a girl!" one of them exclaimed. He was fat and had freckles all over his face._

"_Really." She said sarcastically, "I didn't know that." _

"_Get out of here!" the same boy ordered._

"_Make me, Pork chop." She said, removing her glove. _

"_Have it your way." The fat boy took a step forward._

"_Take another step and I promise you," she threatened quietly, "You won't walk for a week."_

_That caused the boy to stop. Whether in surprise or fear, Bo wasn't sure. _

"_You think I'm scared of you, little girl?" the fat boy asked laughing._

_The boys behind him laughed, except two. She took notice of them before replying. One was small with dark blonde hair. The other was tall, a few inches taller then herself, with black hair and tanned skin. _

"_You should be fat boy." She replied after studying the two who didn't laugh. _

"_What are you even doing here?" the same boy asked. _

"_Knitting a sweater." She replied sarcastically, "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm playing baseball." _

_That earned her a few chuckles, mainly from the two who hadn't laughed at her. _

"_You're a girl!" one of the others exclaimed. He wore black glasses she noticed, "Girl's can't play baseball!"_

"_Well this girl does." She replied easily. _

"_Really?" the tall one spoke up for the first time. "Let's see how good you really are." _

_He stepped forward and she quickly sized him up. Just by the way he carried himself, she could tell that he would be the best out of all of them. _

"_All right." She agreed. "What do you have in mind."_

"_Take you're positions guys." He told the boys behind him who quickly obeyed. Turning back to her he added, "Go bat." _

_She nodded, picked her bat up and headed to where the fat boy was playing catcher. She got in her position and waited for the pitcher to throw the ball. She noticed that he was colored, not that she cared. A person was a person to her. _

"_Let's do this!" the boy called from behind her. "Play ball!" Quieter, he added, "This should be an easy out." _

_With that, he pulled his face guard down and bent down. Bo waited for the pitch. When the boy pitched it, he threw it as hard as he could. Bo easily hit it past the outfield and into a person's backyard. She dropped her bat and ran around the bases quickly, making her homerun. The boy's just stared at her. _

"_But you're a girl!" the one behind her, the fat one, exclaimed. "No girl has ever done that! Heck, only Benny and Smalls have ever done that!" _

"_It's called practice Porky." Bo told him sarcastically. _

_The boy's in the field ran over to where she stood at home. _

"_Good job!" they all said. _

_The tall one stepped forward and held his hand out. _

"_Benny Rodriguez." He introduced himself. _

_She shook his hand and said, "Bo Evans."_

"_Bo?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and dropping her hand. "Isn't that a boy's name."_

"_It's short for Beauregard." Bo explained. "My parents wanted a boy and when they had me, they went ahead and gave me a boy's name." _

"_This is Hamilton Porter, we call him Ham." Benny introduced the other boys. The fat boy spit at his name. "This is Scotty Smalls." Scotty smiled, he was the other one who hadn't laughed at her. "Timmy and Tommy Timmons." Two boys also spit. "Alan McClennan, we call him Yeah-Yeah." He spit. "Michael Palledorous, we call him Squints." The boy with glasses spit. "And Kenny DeNunez." The pitcher spit. _

_She nodded once at each of them.  
"You new around here?" Squints asked._

"_What makes you think that?" Bo asked sarcastically. "I just moved into a blue house about ten minutes from here."_

"_Looks like we're gonna be neighbors then." Benny spoke up. "Smalls here lives next door to you and I live across the street." _

_Smalls smiled again and she smiled back. Suddenly she frowned._

"_What time is it?" she asked. _

_Tommy looked at his watch and announced, "4:30."_

"_4:30." Timmy repeated. _

"_Crap!" Bo exclaimed. "My dad is gonna kill me!" _

_Without another word, she ran to get her stuff and ran out of the sandlot. _

_The boys stared after her, before returning to playing baseball. _

_Bo ran as fast as she could and got home in no time.  
"I'm home Dad!" she shouted._

_She noticed that her dad had removed the boxes from the hallway._

"_Where have you been?" her dad shouted, walking into the hallway._

"_I was at this old sandlot." She answered. "I was just tossing a ball back and forth against the fence." _

"_You could have told me you were going." Her dad snarled, stepping forward. _

_Bo took a step back and ran into the closed door. _

"_I did Dad." She gulped, "I'm sorry. I thought you heard me."_

_Without warning, her dad slapped her with his open palm across her face._

"_I really should hurt you," he snarled as she stared up at him, her hand on the reddening mark, "But I'm to tired too." He turned away and added sarcastically, "Wait outside until I calm down. Wouldn't want to hurt you."_

_Bo quickly scrambled outside and sat on her front porch. A few tears escaped her eyes, but she held them back as she looked up. Her face felt warm where he had slapped her, but it didn't feel to red. She heard laughter from down the street and as she looked up she saw two boys. It was Scotty and Benny. The two separated and Scotty headed to the pink house next to hers. _

"_Hi Bo!" he called waving.  
She waved back as he went inside his house. Bo looked back across the street and saw Benny walking over. She stood up, glanced nervously behind her, and walked to the gate to meet him.  
"Uh, hi." He said nervously._

"_Hey, Benny wasn't it." _

_He nodded.  
"Look," he said, "I know you don't really know us, but you're a really good player from what little we saw and I was wondering if you'd want to join our team."_

_His question startled her, but she quickly regained her composure._

"_Sure!" she agreed. _

"_Cool." He smiled. "Meet us at the Sandlot in the morning at eight. If you get up early enough me and Smalls will walk with you."_

"_What do you mean early enough?" she asked._

"_Well," he replied nervously, "Seein' as how you're a girl I figured you might sleep in."_

_Her eyes narrowed as she spoke. "I'll have you know, Benny. I wake up at seven normally. The latest I have ever slept is eight."_

"_Oh." Benny said simply. "Well see ya in the morning."_

"_See ya." She said and turned back to sit on the porch. _

_Benny crossed the street and went into his house. Bo sighed as she went back into her house._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hi again!!! Hope you liked the first chapter, here's the second!!! Disclamer: I don't anything Please don't be too hard on me. I'm not sure about the rating, I'm still new at this. If you think that it needs to change, feel free to tell me. **_

_CHAPTER 2 First Day of School_

_The night passed quickly and seven o' clock came early to Bo. She woke at seven sharp, took a shower, ate breakfast, and changed. By that time it was 7:50. She grabbed her gear, scribbled a quick note to her dad, and headed outside. She was in luck. She saw Benny waiting next door at Scotty's house. _

"_Benny!" she called as she jogged over to him.  
"Mornin' Bo." He smiled. "Guess you were right. You do wake up early." _

_She just rolled her eyes. When Scotty didn't show after five minutes, Benny walked up to the house and knocked. After two minutes of knocking, Scotty's mom answered the door._

"_I'm sorry Benny," she announced, "But Scotty is sick. He won't be able to play baseball for a couple of days."_

"_Ok." Benny smiled, "Tell him I hope he gets better soon. Bye Mrs. Smalls."_

"_Good bye sweetie." Mrs. Smalls said as she shut the door._

_Benny walked back to Bo and looked at his watch. _

"_I can't believe it." He muttered as they walked._

"_What?" Bo asked._

"_This is the first time I have ever been late." He chuckled. "So when do you start school?"_

"_Monday." She replied. "My dad dropped me off at the school yesterday morning to get my schedule. Which reminds me." She dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "I forgot to take the schedule out of my jacket." _

"_Can I see?" he asked.  
Bo shrugged and handed him the piece of paper. Benny read it quickly and handed it back to her._

"_That's weird." He announced. "We have every class together."_

"_At least I know someone." Bo replied. _

_She couldn't explain it, but her heart did a little back flip at the thought of spending all day with this boy she had just met. _

'_Quit it Bo!' she snapped at herself, 'You've just met him for Pete's sake! What is wrong with you?'_

"_So where did you move from?" Benny asked as they walked. _

"_Nevada." Bo replied carefully, "My Dad didn't like some of the people there so he decided to move here." _

"_Nevada." Benny repeated. "That's cool."_

"_I guess." Bo shrugged. "I didn't mind leaving. I never really had friends there. They all thought that I was some crazy girl who should be locked up in a mental institute."_

"_What gives you that idea?" Benny asked surprised._

"_One of the boys in my class came up to me and told me I was a crazy girl who should be locked up in a mental institute." She paused before adding, "I gave him a black eye and he couldn't walk for a few days." _

_Benny just stared at her. The rest of the way was walked in silence. _

"_Where have you been?" Ham asked loudly when Benny walked through the gate. "You've never been late before and now you show up thirty minutes late on a Saturday!"_

"_What's she doing here?" Squints exclaimed as Bo walked onto the field behind Benny.  
"I asked her to come." Benny said, blushing slightly, "We need another player since Bertram moved and she's good."_

"_But she's a girl!" Tommy exclaimed._

"_A girl!" Timmy repeated._

"_But she's good!" Benny argued. "And we need another player."_

"_We only saw her hit before she ran away." Yeah-Yeah spoke up, "It was probably just a lucky hit. I bet she couldn't do it again or catch a ball!"_

"_Try me loser." Bo snapped. _

_Yeah-Yeah's eyes widened a bit at her outburst. _

"_Do you want to give her another trial?" Benny asked. _

"_Yeah-yeah!" Yeah-yeah exclaimed._

_His voice was followed by the rest of the gang's positive shouts. _

"_Where's Smalls?" Kenny suddenly asked. _

"_He's sick." Benny answered, "His mom said he won't be able to play for a couple of days. That's why I was late. I waited for Smalls a bit longer then I should have."_

"_Then you weren't waiting for her?" Ham asked, surprised. "She didn't sleep in?"_

"_She woke up before me." Benny said, before turning and asking her, "What time did you wake up?"_

"_Seven sharp." Bo told him. _

"_See." Benny said. "Are we going to waste time arguing or are we going to play ball?"_

"_Play ball!" the all exclaimed. _

"_But she hit's first!" Yeah-yeah said. "I want to see if she can do that hit again."_

_Bo just shrugged and grabbed her bat as everyone took there places. Kenny was pitching and he threw it at her again. Just like last time, Bo easily made contact with ball and sent it flying into the outfield. She dropped the bat and took off running, but slowed to a stop when she saw Benny jump and catch the fly ball right at the fence._

"_You're out!" Ham shouted. _

"_Good catch." She told Benny as he jogged over, glaring at Ham. _

"_Thanks." He smiled. "Good hit."_

"_Thanks." _

"_Ok, so she can hit." Yeah-Yeah shrugged, "But can she catch?"_

"_Bo, go to the Left Field." Benny said as he went to get his bat. _

_Bo nodded and jogged to Left Field. _

"_To second!" Benny shouted. _

_Bo got ready, knowing the ball was gonna come to her. Sure enough, Benny hit a pop up to her. She had to run back, but she easily jumped and caught the ball. The second she hit the ground, she threw the ball to Timmy who was at second. Timmy threw it to Tommy who threw it to Kenny who threw it Ham. It was a perfect play had there been a real base runner. _

"_Does that answer your question?" Benny asked Yeah-Yeah as they stared at her. _

"_Yeah-yeah!" Yeah-Yeah nodded, "She can be on the team." _

_The others all agreed, except Ham._

"_But she's a girl for Pete's sake!" he objected. "We can't let a girl play on our team! We'll be made fun of!" _

"_We already are made fun of, Ham." Squints said, "I say she stays." _

"_But she's a girl!" Ham repeated._

"_Would you quit saying that already?" Bo exclaimed. _

"_Fine." Ham muttered. "She can stay."_

_Benny turned to Bo and announced, "Its official. You're our ninth player Bo!" _

_Bo smiled. She loved baseball and she had been afraid she wouldn't be allowed to play since she was a girl. _

_With that aside, the new team played some baseball. They would switch positions and batters at times. Bo hadn't been wrong when she thought that Benny would be the best player. Though they were all good, some even better then good, Benny was the best by far. Bo didn't think she did horrible; she did better then some of the boys. _

"_Let's take a break, Benny!" Ham complained after about three hours of playing. "It's lunchtime! Let's go to the diner!"_

"_Yeah-yeah!" Yeah-Yeah agreed. _

_Everyone started agreeing except Bo. She wasn't that hungry, but she would go along with the idea of getting out of the sun. _

"_Fine." Benny sighed, putting his bat down. "Let's go."_

_A loud cheer went up and gloves were thrown on the ground in a pile. The boys all started running toward the gate, laughing and talking. Bo put her glove in the pile and followed after them. _

"_You got any money?" Benny asked as he came up beside her. _

"_Yeah." Bo nodded, "I always carry some. You never know when you might need some spare change."_

_Benny nodded in agreement. They walked behind the other boys as they made there way to the diner._

"_You're really good, Bo." Benny told her. "Where did you learn to play like that?" _

"_My Grandpa taught me a lot before he died." Bo answered, "Then I joined a baseball team when my friend convinced them to let me. Did that for about a year. That and I practiced on my own. I've always loved baseball and I watched it enough to know as much as I could. It kinda went from there." _

_Benny nodded. "I got into baseball when I was six. When did you get into baseball?"_

"_I was five." Bo answered again, "My Grandpa took me out one day when I was bored and practiced with me and I just automatically got it. At least, that's what Grandpa said." _

"_I think he was right." Benny said, "You are a natural."_

"_Thanks." Bo sighed, "I just wish that girls could play on the same team as boys. Most coaches won't let girls play."  
They had reached the diner by this time. The group walked in and took up the biggest booth so that all eight of them could sit together. Bo sat next to Benny on the end. They all ordered the same thing, a cheeseburger, coke, and fries. They talked as they waited for the food. Mostly they questioned Bo. She answered the questions as best as she could, but some where to weird to even answer. _

"_Who's the new kid?" a voice behind her asked. _

_The entire table went quiet as they turned to see nine boys in baseball uniforms standing by there table. The one who spoke was looking at Bo.  
"Wait a second!" he exclaimed, "You're a girl."_

"_I'm really getting tired of that." Bo announced._

"_Yeah I am genius." Bo rolled her eyes. _

"_Get out of here Phillips." Benny ordered from beside her. _

_Ignoring him, Phillips spoke to Bo. "What are you doing hanging out with these losers girl? Why don't you come hang out with the cool dudes."  
"I'm sorry." Bo feigned innocence, "But the only losers I see around here are you guys."_

_The table erupted in laughter as Phillips face went red. _

"_Come on sweetie." He said as nice as he could, "Why don't you come watch some real players play. Maybe if you're lucky I'll even let you ride on the handlebars of my bike."_

"_I'd rather sit on a porcupine." Bo replied. _

_The table laughed again at that. Bo just smirked. Phillip's face was blood red by now._

"_I don't let anyone talk to me like that." Phillip's snarled. "If you were a boy I would beat you up."_

"_You couldn't beat a two day old baby up!" Bo replied casually. _

_Phillips was really mad now. He grabbed Bo's shoulder and roughly pulled her out of the bench. Caught by surprise, Bo did exactly what Phillips wanted her to do, she fell to the ground. Without warning, Philips kicked her in the ribs. Bo gasped for breath as she saw Phillips reel back for another kick. She didn't give him the chance. Still on the ground, she kicked out and hit Phillips between the legs. He doubled over in pain, giving Bo enough time to stand. _

_By then, the rest of the team had filed out of the booth and were standing behind her as she stood, still gasping for breath. She held her stomach where Phillips had kicked her. She hadn't noticed, but he had been wearing cleats and he had kicked her with the bottom of them. The gang watched as Phillips painfully stood upright. He made a desperate grab for Bo, but she was pulled back by Benny. _

"_You'll regret that, girl." He snarled. _

_Without warning, Benny lashed out and punched Phillips in the nose._

"_You don't hurt a girl, Phillips!" he states as everyone looked at him in surprise. _

"_Let's get out of here!" Phillips exclaimed as he held his broken nose. _

"_Thanks." Bo gasped as the other team left the diner. _

"_Your welcome." Benny grinned, "That actually felt good." _

"_Wait to go you two!" the rest of the gang exclaimed, patting the two of them on the back.  
"Hey!" a waitress exclaimed, shutting the group up, "Is there going to be any more trouble." _

"_No ma'am!" they all exclaimed. _

"_Then sit down and I'll bring you you're food." She ordered. _

_The group quickly sat down as the waitress brought the food over. _

"_You ok?" Benny asked her as they started eating._

"_I'm fine." Bo replied, "Just lost my breath for a moment."_

_After they had finished eating, the team headed back to the Sandlot and played for the rest of the day. At 4:30, Bo said bye to everyone and hurried home. _

"_Dad!" she called as she walked in, "I'm home!" _

"_Where have you been?" her dad appeared in the hallway. _

_His eyes were glazed over and Bo stepped back in fear as she realized he had been drinking._

"_I was at the sandlot playing baseball." She said fearfully._

"_Who with?" her father demanded. _

"_No one Dad!" she exclaimed. He grabbed her arm and shook her. "I swear! I played on my own until these boys chased me off. I spent the rest of the day walking around and playing alone."_

_Her father tightened his grip until she cried out in pain. _

"_Shut up brat!" He growled. He loosened his grip and threw her across the room. _

_Bo cried out in pain as she hit her head. Her father then bent down and slapped her across her face. _

"_Now go to you're room." He ordered. "You're grounded. You're not allowed to go out tomorrow." He stood up before adding, "I hope you haven't made any friends. You remember what happened to your last friend."_

"_I know Dad." Bo cried, tears rolling down her face. "I won't make any friends and we won't have any reason to move."_

_With that, she jumped up and ran to her room. She collapsed on her bed and cried herself to sleep. _


	3. Chapter 3

_**Here's chapter 3!!!!! Hope you're enjoying the story. Sorry if it's a little weird. Disclamer: I don' t own anything sadly. Sorry that it's so short, there will be a few more chapters that are really short, but the other ones are really long. So, on to the chapter!!!! :) Feel free to review and tell me what you think!!! :)**_

_CHAPTER 3 Boring Day_

_On Sunday, Bo woke at seven thirty. She had been awake since seven, but she had stayed in bed. She quickly changed and snuck out her window. She hurried over to Benny's house. She was happy to see that he was sitting on the front porch. It saved her the embarrassment of knocking and the danger of her Dad spotting her._

"_What are you doing up this early, Bo?" he asked surprised. _

"_Benny, listen." She said quickly sitting down next to him, "I can't come to the sandlot today. My Dad grounded me for not telling him how long I was going to be gone." The lie came easy to her._

"_All right." Benny shrugged, "It happens. I'll wait for you tomorrow in front of your house so we can walk to school together."_

"_No!" Bo exclaimed. "I'm sorry. It's just that my Dad doesn't like people waiting on me. He's weird that way. Wait at Scotty's house and I'll come out." _

"_Ok." Benny agreed, looking confused. "See you tomorrow."_

"_Bye." Bo said and hurried back to her house. _

_Benny just watched her go and shook his head. He would never understand girls. _

_For the rest of the day, Bo just sat in her room and read her small collection of books. The day passed slowly, but lucky for her, her dad didn't check on her all day. That night, she fell into a restless sleep. _


	4. Chapter 4

**_Here's Chapter 4!!! Thank you Delilah Anne Marie!!!!! Appreciate the nice comment. Hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Disclamer: I don't own anything_**

CHAPTER 4 First Day of School

The next day, Bo woke up at seven sharp and did her usual routine. Her dad was already up as she grabbed her back pack.

"Dad." She said nervously, "I'm going to school. Would it be ok if I walked around town for awhile afterwards?"

"I guess that would be fine." Her dad looked up from the newspaper and added, "Also I'm going to set a time you must be back every day. That time is 7:30. If you are not back by then it will be bad for you. I don't care what you do or where you go as long as you are back by 7:30. 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays."

"Thanks Dad!" Bo exclaimed, surprised.

With that, she ran out of the house. As promised, Benny was waiting for her at Scotty's house.

"Let's go." She said as she hurried on.

Benny jogged to catch up with her.

"What's going on, Bo?" he asked as he walked beside her.

"Nothin'." She sighed and came up with a lie, "My Dad's just a little mad that I'm spending all my time away from home."

Benny just shook his head in confusion.

"How's Scotty?" Bo changed the subject quickly. .

"His mom said he should be back to school tomorrow." Benny told her, noticing the quick subject change.

They met up with the rest of the gang in the school yard. Bo was relieved to learn that they all had the same first period. They went to there lockers which were luckily right next to each others and went to English with five minutes to spare.

They sat down together in the corner next to the door. Bo looked around and was upset to see Phillips and his team in the opposite corner. They spotted the group and walked over and stopped in front of where she sat in front of Benny and beside Ham.

"Still hanging out with these losers, sweetie?" Phillips asked stupidly, sitting on her desk.

Bo looked to make sure the teacher wasn't in the room before grabbing Phillips arm and flinging him off her desk. The Sandlot gang laughed as Phillips stood up, his face slightly red.

"I'm willing to ignore that and the little mishap at the diner," he offered, "Just come on over and sit with us."

"I wouldn't sit anywhere near you dorks if my life depended on it." She replied tightly. "So buzz of meathead!"

Phillips face went blood red as he and his team stalked back to there seats.

"Good one Bo!" Ham exclaimed.

"Yeah good one!" Tommy smiled.

"Good one." Timmy repeated.

"You're in for it now, Bo." Kenny announced from behind Ham, "He won't shrug off you embarrassing him in front of the class."

Bo just smiled, shrugged, and turned to face the front as the bell rang and the teacher walked in.

"All right calls." The teacher, an overweight woman in her mid-forties spoke as she stood in front of the room. "First off I would like you all to welcome our new student, Beauregard Evans."

All eyes turned to Bo who looked at the floor. With that done, the teacher went straight into teaching English.

After English, the gang split up and went to there separate classes. Bo and Benny walked toward the Spanish classroom.

"So what's with Phillips?" Bo asked as they walked down the hallway.

"He's on the official Little League Team." Benny explained. "He has a grudge against us since we beat his team in more then one game."

Bo grinned and nodded as they sat down near the back.

The rest of the day was uneventful until the break before last period. Bo and Benny had gone to there lockers while the rest of the team ran to go outside for the ten minutes between classes. They had each just shut there lockers when they heard a voice speak up behind them.

"Look what we've got here, boys. Two gutless meatheads."

Bo and Benny spun around to find themselves surrounded by Phillips and his team.

"What do you want Phillips?" Benny growled, setting his books down as Bo followed suit.

"Her." Phillips replied looking at Bo.

"Not even in your dreams." Bo snapped.

"I've given you two chances to leave those losers," Phillips snarled, looking at Bo, but motioning to Benny, "But you didn't listen, so now face the consequences."

As if on a signal, two of the boys grabbed Bo's arms and two grabbed Benny's, rendering them immobile, no matter how much they struggled. The four boys were at least three inches taller then them and were stronger then they looked. The more they struggled, the tighter the grip became.

Phillips walked over to Benny first.

"This is for staying with those losers instead of joining us, Rodriguez." He announced as he punched Benny in the gut, doubling him over.

Phillips walked over to Bo and grinned evilly.

"This is for the diner and class." He announced as he punched her in the gut, also doubling her over.

With that, the other four boys started in on them.

"That's enough!" Phillips finally called after a few minutes, "They deserve more, but class is in two minutes."

The four boys released there grips and Bo and Benny fell to the floor in pain. The boys kicked them a few more times as they hurried to class. Bo and Benny lay on the floor for about a minute before gasping and struggling to sit up.  
"You ok?" Benny gasped.  
"As good as can be expected." She replied, just as breathless. "You?"

"Same." He said, stiffly standing up.

He offered her his hand and helped her up.

"Ah great." Bo muttered, her hand on her eye.

"What?" Benny asked.

"One of those jerks hit me in the eye." She paused, looked at him and added, "You too."

The bell rang as they picked up there books and stiffly walked to there last class, history. By the time they reached the door, they were five minutes late.

"Where have you two been?" the teacher, a skinny middle aged man, asked grouchily.

"Sorry Mr. McKinley." Benny said, dropping his head.

"What happened to you two?" Mr. McKinley asked as he spotted Bo's now black eye.

"Nothing." Benny muttered.

The teacher stiffened his back.

"If that's how you're going to be, Mr. Rodriguez." He said tightly, "Then you can each have detention today after school."

Benny opened his mouth to argue, but was cut off by a stern look from the teacher. He motioned to two empty seats right between Phillips and his gang.

With a quick look at each other, Benny and Bo sat down beside each other with Benny beside Phillips.

"Don't say we didn't warn you, Rodriguez." Phillips whispered as the teacher turned his back, "This means war."

They ignored him and painfully started taking notes.

The next hour passed slowly as Benny and Bo endured the numerous paper wads thrown at them. Finally, the bell rang and the kids all filed out.

"Rodriguez, Evans." Mr. McKinley said loudly. They walked up to his desk and waited for him to continue. "You know fighting is against the rules, as is arriving late. I'm sure you were aware of these rules Miss Evans, but if not then I am sorry. You two may sit in opposite corners for the next hour."

Groaning, they did as they were told. The hour slowly dragged by, but finally they were allowed to go. They quickly gathered up there stuff and hurried as fast as they could to the sandlot.

"Where have you two been?" Ham shouted as soon as he spotted them slipping into the sandlot.

The team dropped what was in there hands and ran over to Bo and Benny.

"Yeah-yeah! We've been here for an hour now!" Yeah-Yeah added.

"What happened to your eyes?" Kenny asked spotting their black eyes.

"Phillips and gang?" Tommy guessed.

"Phillips?" Timmy repeated.

Bo and Benny nodded.

Squints whistled. "They got ya good."

"What happened?" Hams demanded.

"They surrounded us in the hall during break." Benny explained, "It wasn't a fair fight. They pinned our arms and beat us. Mr. McKinley gave us detention for fighting and being late.

Bo nodded in agreement.

"You two gonna be able to play?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, will ya be able to play?" Timmy repeated.

"I can." Bo replied quickly, thinking about what her dad would say when she got home. The longer she put it off the better.

"I guess." Benny nodded. "Let's go."

They all grabbed there stuff and hurried to the sandlot with Benny and Bo in the back moving painfully.

"Are you two sure you can play? Kenny asked unconvinced.

"Maybe you should just watch." Ham suggested.

Bo started to disagree, but Benny spoke before she could.  
"Fine, we'll sit out. But only for today!"

With that, he grabbed Bo's arm and practically dragged her over to there worn out dugout. The sat down on the rickety bench and watched as they boys went back to playing, three players short.

"Sorry." Benny said suddenly.

"What are you sorry for?" Bo asked confused.

"You wouldn't have gotten beat up today if you hadn't been with me." He replied quietly, looking at the ground.  
"That ain't true." Bo disagreed. "I would have made enemies out of them even if I wasn't your alls friend. He's someone I would who would get on my nerves with one sentence."

Benny grinned and the watched the gang play in an easy silence. All to soon, it was six o' clock. Bo and Benny had chatted some, mostly about baseball and school. They all said good-bye and Bo and Benny headed toward there neighborhood.

"Let's stop in and check on Smalls." Benny suggested.

"I can't." Bo shook her head. "I need to get on home. My dad might try and cook and I'll need to be out there to put out the fire."

"All right then." Benny shrugged. They had reached Scotty's house by then and Bo said bye and hurried into her house.

"Who was that?" her father bellowed as she shut the door.

"Just someone I met at school." Bo lied nervously. "He lives in the same neighborhood and offered to walk me home. I said yes because I didn't want to walk alone."

Her father didn't look convinced, but he proceeded with his questions.

"Where did you get that black eye?"

It was then that Bo noticed the whiskey bottle in her father's hand and his slightly glazed look.

"I got into a fight in school." She replied. "The guy didn't fair to good. I got in some pretty good licks, he just managed to hit me in the eye."

Her father looked her straight in the eye. Bo could feel herself sweating. She was a good liar, but her father had always been able to tell when she was lying, even when he was drunk.

"Liar!" he snarled, breaking the bottle on the wall and slicing the sharp end at her. "Now tell me the truth!"

"I am telling the truth!" she cried out as she narrowly avoided the bottle.

Her father took a step closer and grabbed her arm.

"Now tell me the truth." He ordered. "Who was that boy?"

Bo could smell the alcohol on his breath and she felt tears in her eyes.

"Just a boy I met at school that walked me home." She cried. "That's the truth!"

Her father cut her with the bottle alongside her right cheek. She cried out as she felt the sharp glass cut her skin and bring blood to her face. Her father punched her across the face with his fist. She fell to the ground as he let her go. She touched her cheek and saw blood on it as she drew it away.

"When I ask you a question I expect the truth!" he barked. He looked at her crying face and added, "Why don't you live up to your name? Beauregard represents someone tough who never cries. Be a man and quit that sniffling."

"I'm a girl Dad!" she shouted, which earned her a kick in the ribs.

"That's enough!" he bared. "Clean up and go to your room!"

Crying, Bo ran to do as she was told.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here's chapter 5!! This is probably the shortest chapter I will right (hopefully:) Disclamer: I don't own anything On to the story!!!!! **_

CHAPTER 5 Scotty Gets Suspicious

Scotty was reading a book in his room when he heard yelling coming from Bo's house. Curious, he crawled out of bed and looked out his window. He couldn't see anything for all the windows were shut except one. The shouting was muffled and Scotty couldn't make out any of the words, but he waited for a few minutes anyways. He was surprised when he saw Bo run into the room with the open window. He saw tears streaming down her face as well as blood from a gash in cheek. He saw the black eye, but knew that was from the beating from Phillips that Benny had told him about. He watched as Bo fell onto her bed and cried.

Scotty slid to the side of the window as Bo sat up, wiped her eyes, and looked out the window. Sneaking a peek out of his window, he watched as Bo closed the blinds. Shutting his own blinds, Scotty lay back down on his bed.

'That was interesting.' He thought. 'I wonder what upset Bo so much to make her cry.'

"Scotty!" his mother called, interrupting his thoughts, "Dinner time!"

"Coming Mom!" he yelled back and ran down the stairs to eat with his family.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter six!!!!!! Hope you all are liking the story, I'm sorry if it goes really fast, but that's what always seems to happen when I write. Disclamer: I don't own anything_**

CHAPTER 6 Scotty Tells Benny

Over the next two weeks, Scotty continued to watch his window at night and every night was almost the same. Bo would run up to her room in tears, sometimes with blood on her face or arms.

Scotty couldn't understand how any of this was happening. It didn't make any since. At school and the sandlot Bo was happy and never cried. She was tough, but kind at the same time. At home it was completely different. Something was going on in the few minutes when Scotty couldn't see her and that something was bad. None of the other guys had noticed anything. Not even Benny. Scotty was sure that Benny would have. More then once, Scotty had seen Benny hiding gashes not unlike the ones Bo would have every few days.

He was lying on his bed when he heard Bo run into her room. This time, however, she didn't lie down and cry. She was crying, Scotty could hear her crying, but she also started yelling. Not a loud yelling, but loud enough that he could make out her words.

"Why does he have to beat me?"

Suddenly, everything clicked in Scotty's brain. His eyes went wide as he realized the truth. He jumped off his bed with one thing in his mind, tell Benny. He ran down the stairs as fast as he could.

"I'm going to go see Benny real quick, Mom!" he called.

"All right Scotty!" his mom called back, "Don't stay to long! It's almost dark!"

"I won't!" He told her as he hurried across the street.

He banged on Benny's front door and was relived when Benny appeared. Scotty saw the gash on his face as soon as he looked at him. It was still bleeding a little.

'Just like the one on Bo's face a couple weeks ago.' He thought.

"Hey Smalls." Benny smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you," Scotty announced. "In private."

Benny looked at him in confusion, but stepped out onto the porch and shut the door. As soon as Scotty made sure no one listening, he told Benny everything.


	7. Chapter 7

**_I'm happy!! 3 chapters in one day!!!! Here's chapter 7!! I'm sorry that the last three chapters have been super short, but they get longer from here on!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything_**

CHAPTER 7 Bo Takes Action

"Why does he have to beat me?" Bo cried out, but was only met with silence.

She could hear her Dad in the hallway, muttering something she couldn't understand.

'He's coming for me.' She thought fearfully.

Her dad had been drinking a lot lately and she had been beat almost every day. Tonight had been the worst. The living room was littered with empty liquor bottles, most recently drained.

"You'll pay girl." She heard him slur as he opened the door, "You ruined my life. Now you'll pay!"

He reached out to grab her, but the liquor had slowed him down and Bo was able to run around him and into the hall. She started toward the stairs, but a rough hand grabbed the back of her neck.

"You'll feel it now, girl." Her father slurred, picking her up and carrying her by her neck to the top of the stairs. "You'll fell the pain for all the pain you've caused me."

With that, he dropped her. Bo cried out as she hit the stairs at a roll. When she came to a hard stop against the wall at the bottom, her father had just started down the stairs.  
"Stay there girl." He ordered, "Stay there or it will only be worse!"

Bo didn't listen. She painfully stood up and staggered to the door and was soon out of the door. She slammed it behind her and took off running toward the sandlot. She heard her father swearing at her from the porch, but he didn't seem to be following her. In no time, she was at the sandlot. She climbed into the old tree house and sank into a corner. Only then did she cry.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Here's chapter 8!!! Hope you like it. Disclamer: I don't own anything. Hope you all had a good Easter!!!!_**

CHAPTER 8 The Tree House

Benny walked back into his house, thinking about what Scotty had just told him. If what he had just learned was true, then Bo's condition was not too different then his.

"Get in here, boy!" Benny's father barked.

Benny gulped and did as he was told. His father, a large man with black hair and stood six feet tall, sat in a recliner with a liquor bottle in his hands and several empty ones on the floor.

"Who was that?" his father slurred.

"No one Dad." Benny replied, "Just some kid wanting to know how to get to get to Vincent's Drug Store. I told him and he went on his way."

"You're not lying to me, are you boy?" His father stood up and peered down at Benny.

"No sir." Benny gulped.

His father suddenly slapped him across the face, sending him to the floor.

"I think you're lying, son." His father announced. "Now who was it?"

"Scotty." Benny told him, standing up. "He forgot what today's homework was and came to ask me what it was."

His father slapped him again, this time with his fist clenched. Benny fell back a few feet. He felt blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

"Your mom ain't around to save you this time, boy." His father took a menacing step toward Benny.

Benny scrambled backwards away from his father. Nothing scared him more then his father when he was drunk and his mom wasn't home.

"She may not be here." Benny said defiantly, standing up, "But I'm here."

His father punched him again, sending Benny to the floor again. Benny couldn't take it. He scrambled up and ran out the door. When he got onto the porch, he saw Bo running down the street.

He heard his father swearing inside the house and hurried down the street, following Bo. He was not surprised to see Bo run to the tree house in the sandlot; he had run there more then once himself. He climbed up the tree house and heard Bo crying inside. He stepped inside and saw Bo huddled in the corner of the tree house. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms rested on top of her knees. Her face was burried in her arms and she was sobbing loudly.

"Bo." He said quietly.

She looked up quickly, wiping the tears from her face.

"B…Benny?" she stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you running down the street from my porch." Benny said, sitting down beside her. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She replied. "My Dad just told me that my Grandmother died. I wanted to be alone."

"Bo." Benny whispered. "You can tell me the truth."

"What do you mean?" Bo asked, looking up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Smalls told me about what happens to you at home." Benny announced.

"How does he know?" Bo asked before she could catch herself.

"He's been watching you for the past few weeks." Benny told her. "Do you trust me?"

Bo nodded. "I trust you more then anyone. Even more then the guys." She sighed. "My Dad beats me."

Benny wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

"It's all right, Bo." He whispered to her, "You're not alone."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"My Dad beats me too. Not as much as yours, but he beats me every other day or so."

She looked at him in surprise.

"But your mom?" she said in confusion.

"She works every other night from 7PM to 7AM." Benny told her, "He never beats me when she's there. Only when she's at work at the hospital."

"My Dad beats me for just having friends." Bo sighed.

"What do you mean?" Benny asked.

"It's a long story." Bo replied, "My Dad killed my Mom when I was five years old. He knocked her out and threw her in a river. They were arguing over how to raise me when he killed her. We moved in with my Grandparents until they died when I was seven. Whenever they were gone my dad would beat me. I had only one friend my entire time in Nevada. His name was Jerry. He's the one who helped me get onto the baseball team. One day my Dad saw me walking home from practice with him. He was drunk and," she sniffed as tears ran down her face once again, "Dad charged at us and killed him in front of my eyes. That's why we moved here. To escape getting arrested for murder. That's why I try never to be seen with you or Scotty or any of the guys. If my Dad was to see me with friends he would kill you." She looked up at him, tears streaming down her eyes, "I haven't done a very good job. He saw me walking with you. I'm scared that he might try and kill you now."

Benny looked at her. He hadn't expected her life to have been like that. She broke into another crying fit and he pulled her into his embrace. He was surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and cried into his chest. He was surprised for a moment, but he soon overcame his surprise, however, and rubbed her head while whispering soothing words to her.

After a few minutes, Bo calmed down and pulled away from his chest.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what?" Benny asked. "For crying? That's all right. Everyone cries."

She smiled up at him. She seemed to have noticed the redness on his face from where his father had smacked him.

"Was your Dad beating you before you ran after me?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah." He replied. "You going to go back home."

"I don't think I should." She sighed. "My Dad was drunk enough to…" she stopped before she could say "to kill someone."

"Same for my Dad." Benny replied. "Have you been staying here a lot?"

He looked down when he didn't get any response. He smiled as he saw Bo's sleeping form on his chest. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. In no time, he was asleep too.

**_Sorry about Benny being beaten. He probably doesn't really get beat in the movies, but it works for my story. _**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Only a couple of more chapters till this story is done!!!! Hope you like chapter 9!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything Now on to the story!!_**

CHAPTER 9 The Truth and a Plan

"Benny?" a voice called out. "Bo?"

Benny and Bo opened there eyes and blinked in the sudden brightness. They looked up into the faces of Ham, Squints, Tommy, Timmy, Kenny, and Smalls.

Bo quickly sat up, blushing as she realized that they had caught her sleeping against Benny. Benny blushed as well.  
"What are you two doing here?" Ham asked.

Neither could think of an answer.

"If you don't tell them," Smalls spoke up angrily, "Then I will."

"What do you mean Smalls?" Kenny asked as Bo and Benny stood up.

"Are you going to tell them? Or shall I?" Smalls straightened up, trying unsuccsefully to look tough.

"Our Dads beat us." Benny said quietly.

"What?" everyone, minus Smalls and Bo, exclaimed.

"Our Dad's are abusive." Bo repeated louder. "They beat us."

"You can't be serious!" Squints said awestruck, "Benny, I've met your dad, he didn't seem the abusive type."

"He's not when my Mom's around and sometimes when he's not drunk." Benny told him.

"Why didn't you tell us, man?" Kenny asked, "We could have helped."

"I…I didn't think about it." Benny admitted.

"You too Bo?" Tommy asked and for once Timmy didn't repeat after him.

Bo nodded. She had never told anyone about her private life before and she felt like she was going to cry again, but she held back the tears.

"How long, Benny?" Smalls asked.

"Since I was about five." Benny replied.

"Bo?" Smalls asked.

"Since I was five." She replied.

The guys just looked at them in disbelief.  
"So what were you two doing here then?" Yeah-Yeah asked.

Benny bit his lip as Bo spoke.

"My Dad was beating me. He threw me down the stairs and I ran here. He only beats me at home when no ones looking. He never chases me if I run out of the house."

The gang looked at her in sorrow before turning to Benny.

"My Dad was beating me too." He told them, "I ran out onto the porch to let him calm down when I saw Bo running down the street. I heard my Dad coming to drag me back in so I ran off after her."

No one asked for the rest of the story. There were tear stains on Benny's shirt and everyone could see that Bo was trying hard not to cry, even though a couple of tears escaped and rolled down her face.

She looked at Smalls and asked.

"Scotty, how did you know?"

Scotty blushed as he replied.

"You leave your blinds open and my room is right across from yours. I would see you run into your room and cry. I heard you when you asked why your dad beat you."

Bo blushed at that. She hadn't known anyone was watching her.

"What about me, Smalls?" Benny asked. "How did you know that my Dad beats me?"

"I kinda pieced that together when I saw you with bruises that you had a hard time of explaining. Then I noticed that Bo had the same type of bruises and I just guessed that you each had the same problem." Scotty announced.

"Hey losers!" a familiar voice called out from the ground. "We know you're here so show yourselves."

"Not again!" Squints exclaimed. He ran to the window to confirm what everyone knew. "Phillips."

They all headed to the small deck and looked down at the baseball players on bicycles.

"What do you want Phillips?" Ham asked angrily.

"To repay some debts." He replied, looking at Bo and Benny before looking at them all. "We told you it meant war, Rodriguez."

"Come on guys." Ham said, climbing down the ladder.

Squints and Yeah-Yeah went to the pole and slid down while everyone else took the ladder. They formed a line in front of the bikers and waited.

Phillips and his team looked at them all one at a time, sizing them up. The bruises on Bo's and Benny's faces didn't escape his notice and neither did the tears stains on Benny's shirt.

"What happened to you two?" he asked. "Did the little girl slap you then cry on you, Rodriguez?"

"Shut your mouth, Phillips!" Benny shouted, blushing a little.

Phillips just grinned evilly.

"Who would expect little Miss Tough would cry on her boyfriend's shoulder?" he teased as his team laughed.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Bo exclaimed quickly, blushing. "Why don't you run on home and go cry to your mommy about how horrible you are at baseball."

"At least I have a mom!" Phillips snapped.

Bo looked like he had just slapped her. Anger flashed over her face as well as a few tears at the thought of her mom.

"You're gonna pay for that, Phillips!" Ham exclaimed when Bo didn't reply.

"Who's going to make me pay? You fat boy?" Phillips asked in a fake frightened voice.

Ham's face went red against his freckles.  
"At least I can play baseball, meathead!"

"Butt sniffer!"

"Puss eater!"

"Shut up!" Yeah-Yeah exclaimed. "We don't have time for this. Just get out of here, Phillips."

"We'll go." Phillips replied, "But you might want to know something. Your Dad's are looking for you Rodriguez, Evans. They each went to the police office this morning to report you two missing together."

Bo's and Benny's faces paled of color.

"If I recall correctly," Phillips continued, leaning forward on his bike, "My Dad said that Evans Dad filed a kidnapping on Rodriguez here. Your Dad seems to have filed the same thing on Evans, Rodriguez."

"Get out of here now, Phillips!" Benny ordered his face still pale.

Phillips just grinned and he and his followers left.

"I've got to go!" Bo exclaimed.

"Me too." Benny agreed.

"You can't go!" Tommy shouted.

"You can't!" Timmy repeated.

"You're Dad's will kill you!" Kenny added.

"I have an idea." Bo replied, thinking quickly. "I've done it before and it worked. Can you get into your room from a window?" she asked Benny. When he nodded she continued, "Sneak in through the window. When you're Dad or the police or whoever go to check your room you'll be there. IF they ask you were you've been just say you never left, that your Dad must have not seen you or something."

Benny nodded.

"See ya guys!" they called as they ran off down the road.

"We need to go behind the houses." Bo said as they neared their neighborhood. "Good luck."

"You two."

They split and ran toward there houses. They each climbed in their windows and sat down on their beds. Just in time too. Over at Bo's house, her father barged into the room with two policemen behind him.

"See!" he exclaimed, "She's…right there."

He stared at her in amazement.

"But you weren't here last night or this morning!" he exclaimed. "How?"

"What are you talking about Dad?" she asked, "I've been here the whole time. You must have just not seen me. You were a little tipsy last night."

The police officers stared at her father before making there way down the steps and over to Benny's house.

"Where have you been, Beauregard?" he asked, gripping her shoulders.

"Right here Dad." She replied, slipping out of his grip. "You were drunk last night; I was in my room the entire time."

Her father just looked at her in a confused look, before shaking his head and turning away.

"I'm going out." She announced, standing up and getting her baseball equipment.

Her father just grunted and she hurried back outside and back to the sandlot. Benny appeared out of his house at the same time and they hurried back to the sandlot, grinning the whole time.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Here's chapter 10!!! I hope you've liked the story so far, there are only 6 chapters left so yippee!!!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything._**

CHAPTER 10 Mr. Myrtle and Mrs. Spice

"How'd it go?" Ham asked as they sat down in the tree house.

"Perfect." Bo grinned. "My Dad fell for it again! The policemen thought he was crazy!"

"Same with my Dad." Benny grinned, but returned to his straight face quickly, "But my Mom told me that she's going to work every day now. To help pay the bills since my Dad got fired."

Everyone looked at him in sorrow.

"So what are we going to do to stop this?" Smalls asked.

Bo shook her head.  
"You're going to do nothing about my situation." She replied.

"Why not?" Ham demanded.  
"Because I like it here." Bo explained somberly, "And if I get taken away from my Dad, then I'll have to leave and go live with some people I don't know."

"But we can't just let you get beat all the time!" Kenny objected.

"Be reasonable, Bo!" Benny said shocked.

"I can fair fine." She argued, "I've lived with this all my life now. I know how to avoid getting seriously hurt and it's not a big deal."

"Child abuse is a big deal!" Tommy replied.

"A really big deal!" Timmy agreed.

She just shook her head no.

"What about you, Benny?" Smalls asked. "What can we do to help you?"

"Nothing." Benny told them, sighing. "If my Dad gets taken away then I'll probably be sent away too."

"But your mom!" Squints said shocked.

"My mom is working full time now," Benny explained. "She won't be able to take care of me."

The team sat in silence for a minute thinking of ways to help.

"I know!" Yeah-Yeah suddenly exclaimed. "Mr. Myrtle and Mrs. Spice!"

"What?" everyone asked at once in confusion.

"We tell the police that you two are being abused and suggest that Mr. Myrtle could take Benny and Mrs. Spice could take Bo!"

"But there old." Squints said uncertainly, "Don't they put foster kids into homes with young people?"

"Not all the time." Bo announced. "I did research on it once when I thought about telling the police. If there is anyone in the town or city who would give the child a home, whether they are young or old, and the child agrees then they can live with that person!"

"But how can we get Mrs. Spice and Mr. Myrtle to agree?" Smalls asked.

"Mr. Myrtle will take Benny." Kenny replied, grinning, "He likes him like a son."

"Bo," Tommy asked, "Have you ever met Mrs. Spice?"

"Yeah, have you?" Timmy repeated.

Bo nodded. "We got along real well when I met her in Vincent's Drugstore and I helped her at home for a little money."

"Let's go talk to them right now!" Ham exclaimed.

Everyone agreed and they all hurried out of the tree house and across the sandlot to Mr. Myrtle's house.

A large dog barked and ran up to them as they walked through the back yard.

"Hey Hercules." Smalls said, patting the dog on the head.

"That's a big dog!" Bo exclaimed.

"We'll tell you the story later." Benny said quickly as they walked onto the back porch. "Mr. Myrtle! He called as he banged on the door.

An old black man wearing dark glasses opened the door and smiled.

"Hello Benny, everyone." He greeted.

"Mr. Myrtle," Ham said quickly, "We have something to ask you."

"In a minute." The old man replied, "Would you like to introduce me to your girlfriend, Benny?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Benny blushed, "Mr. Myrtle this is Beauregard Evans."

"Hi." Bo said shyly.

Mr. Myrtle nodded in the direction of her voice and asked, "What's so important?"

"We don't want to be overheard." Kenny told him.

"Come on in." he said, walking back inside.

In less then five minutes, they had filled Mr. Myrtle in on everything.

"Are you sure your mother wouldn't be able to care for you, Benny?" Mr. Myrtle asked.

"I'm sure, Mr. Myrtle." Benny replied, "She barely makes enough now to keep us with food. After a couple of months or so she might be able to make enough, but for now she doesn't."

"I'll do it." Mr. Myrtle wasted no time in saying. "I can't believe someone could do such a thing to someone as nice as you Benny."

"Thanks Mr. Myrtle!" they all exclaimed.

"We need to go." Smalls announced.

"Just tell me when you need me again." Mr. Myrtle said as they left.

After their meeting with Mr. Myrtle, the gang ran straight to Mrs. Spice. They were in luck as she opened the door at there second knock.

"Beauregard?" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Benjamin!" she added seeing Benny, "I have never seen so many young boys at my door. Minus you of course Bo."

"Mrs. Spice," Bo said seriously, "May we talk to you about something, something important?"

"Of course dear," Mrs. Spice said, looking at her strangely, "Come in! Come in!"

They all filed into her living room and sat down. Bo told the kindly old woman her dilemma. By the end of the story, Mrs. Spice was furious.

"I can't believe that you had to go through all that, Beauregard!" she fumed, grabbing Bo into a tight hug, "Why, if I had just known I would have helped you in every way I could! Certainly I will take you in as soon as you tell the police."

"Thanks Mrs. Spice!" Bo smiled, hugging the woman back.

"Come now!" Mrs. Spice ordered, standing, "Let's go get Mr. Myrtle and go tell the police this instant!"

She didn't wait for any arguments; she grasped Bo's and Benny's arms and dragged them out of her house. The rest of the gang followed, chuckling in spite of themselves at there friends being dragged by an older woman with gray hair.

In no time, they had picked Mr. Myrtle up and headed to the police station.

"Should we tell my mom first?" Benny asked.

Mr. Myrtle's hand was on his shoulder as Benny led him to the police station.  
"There's no time!" Mrs. Spice replied, "She'll learn soon enough."

Benny looked upset, but he followed everyone none the less. It took less then ten minutes to reach the police station.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Chapter 11!!!!!!!!!! Hope you like it!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything_**

CHAPTER 11 The Police Station

"Can I help you?" a policeman asked as they walked up to his desk.

"Yes, we're here to report a crime." Mrs. Spice took on the role of spokesperson.

"What crime would that be, Mrs. Spice?" the policeman, a Mr. Hoard, asked. He leaned forward at his desk in anticipation.

"Two cases of child abuse." Mrs. Spice announced.

"Child abuse?" Mr. Hoard asked, "Who has been abused?"

"Benjamin Rodriguez and Beauregard Evans." Mrs. Spice told him, pulling the two of them to the desk.

"Is this true?" the man asked them.

"Yes sir." They both replied.

"Do you have any witnesses?" he asked, leaning back.

"We have there word and a witness." Mrs. Spice replied. "Scotty Smalls has watched Bo running to her room, bruised and sometimes bleeding."

"Who has been abusing you?" he asked Bo and Benny.

"Our Dads." They said at the same time.

"Does your mom know about this, Benny?" Mr. Hoard asked.

"No sir." Benny replied, "He only beats me when she's gone."

"I would like to talk to you three alone real quick." He said, motioning for Benny, Bo, and Scotty to follow him into a room.

They three of them told there stories, not leaving out a single detail. Mr. Hoard quickly organized a small patrol and, leaving the gang and the two adults at the station, went to arrest Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Evans.

When they arrived back at the station, the two fathers were fuming mad.

"I'll get you for this, Beauregard!" Bo's father threatened as he was led into a cell, "You'll pay! You'll be so beat up, no one will recognize you!"

Mr. Rodriguez didn't say anything, but he looked at Benny. Strangely enough, he didn't look mad. In fact, there was a look of sadness and regret in his eyes.

"Benny!" a female voice shouted in a worried voice.

"Mom!" Benny exclaimed, running to his mother and giving her a hug.

"I am so sorry, Benny." She cried, "If I had known that your father was beating you, I would have put a stop to it."

"I know Mom." Benny choked, a few tears running down his cheeks.

"Mrs. Rodriguez," Mr. Hoard broke up the two, "I'm sure you know that you can't afford to keep Benny. As much as the county will hate to do it, we will have to separate you two."

Mrs. Rodriguez couldn't say anything, she was crying too hard.

"But Mom!" Benny said excitedly, "We came up with a solution."

"Who came up with a solution?" Mrs. Rodriguez asked.

"It was Yeah-Yeah who came up with the idea, but everyone helped with it." Benny told her.

She listened to his plan and smiled for the first time.

"Do you think it will work?" she asked.

"I'm pretty certain that it will, Mrs. Rodriguez." Mr. Hoard confirmed.

"Everyone loves Benny and no one wants him to be far from you." He turned to Bo and added, "For you too Bo."

They all smiled.

"You're welcome to stay with me for the night, Beauregard, dear." Mrs. Spice announced, wrapping her arm around Bo.  
"Thanks Mrs. Spice." Bo smiled.

"You all had better get on home," Mr. Hoard said walking back into the room. "I'll notify you when the trial date has been set."

"How long should it be till we know?" Smalls asked.

"A week or so, possibly." Mr. Hoard told him, "Maybe earlier."

They all nodded and filed out. Mrs. Spice never let go of Bo's arm just as Mrs. Rodriguez never let go of Benny's. Mrs. Spice and Bo were the first to leave the small group. They said there good-byes and went there separate ways. One by one, the friends all left the group and headed to there own separate homes.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Hope ya'll are enjoying the story. Here's chapter 12!!!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything_**

CHAPTER 12 Church and the Diner

It was 9:30 in the morning when Bo arrived at the sandlot. Everyone else was already there.

"Where have you been?" Ham exclaimed as he saw her coming in.

"Mrs. Spice made me go buy some skirts and dresses for the trial." Bo rolled her eyes. "She says pants are appropriate for legal cases."

"The trial's not for a week, maybe more." Squints said.

"She said she was going to make me go to church next Sunday too." Bo replied, blushing a little.

"Why didn't she make you go today?" Tommy asked, grinning.

"Why didn't she make you go?" Timmy repeated.

"She said that I needed some appropriate clothes for church first." Bo sighed again.

"Don't worry, Bo." Benny spoke up, "My Mom apparently talked to Mrs. Spice. I have to go too."

"Are we going to play ball?" Ham asked loudly.

"Let's go!" Kenny exclaimed.

They all ran out to there positions and they all played ball for the rest of the day.

The rest of the week went by quickly. The whole school seemed to have heard about the upcoming trials, which had been set for Tuesday. As they walked through the school and the classes, kids constantly whispered behind there back and stared at them as if they were aliens. It made Benny and Bo feel uncomfortable.

When Sunday arrived, Bo was forced to where her new dress. It was light blue with white flowers on it. She groaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had never like dresses and only wore them on occasion when she was younger when her mother was alive.

Mrs. Spice and she met up with Benny and Rodriguez on the short walk to the church. Benny had been forced into a black suit and both he and Benny looked uncomfortable.

"You look nice, Bo." Benny smiled as they walked behind the two older women into the large white church.

"So do you." Bo replied. "You think they'll let us go play baseball after this?"

"I don't know." Benny chuckled. "My Mom might let me, but I don't know about Mrs. Spice."  
"Hurry along you two." Mrs. Spice called as she and Mrs. Rodriguez slipped into the second pew in the front.

Bo and Benny groaned as they sat down on the outside of the two women and waited for the sermon to begin.

After nearly two hours in the sanctuary and Sunday school, the four headed on home. Bo and Benny talked for awhile before falling silent and looking around.

"Wait," Bo suddenly exclaimed, "Why are we going by the sandlot?"

"I invited Mrs. Spice over for lunch, Benny." Mrs. Rodriguez explained. "This is the shortest way to our house."

"Does that mean we won't be able to go play ball today?" Bo asked, afraid of the answer.

"Just for this Sunday." Mrs. Spice answered.

"Benny!" a voice they recognized as Ham's shouted, "Bo!"

Bo and Benny turned around, Bo nearly falling in her new low heels. She groaned as she saw the gang running toward them.

"Are you guys gonna come…whoa!" he suddenly exclaimed.

The entire gang stared at Bo.

"What are you doing in a dress?" Squints asked.

Bo blushed as she responded.

"Mrs. Spice made me wear it."

It was then that she realized that the two women had left them and were waiting up the road.

"Benjamin! Beauregard!" Mrs. Spice called. "Come along now!"

"Got to go guys." Benny said.

"Will you two be coming back later?" Smalls asked.

"Doesn't sound like we will be." Bo replied.

They heard footsteps from behind them. Bo and Benny turned and looked at Mrs. Spice and Mrs. Rodriguez.

"Do you two want to go eat at the diner with your friends?" Mrs. Rodriguez asked gently.

There faces lit up as they were basically given permission.

"You two may go eat at the diner," Mrs. Spice announced, "But you must be back by 2:30. We have a few things to talk over before Tuesday."

"Yes ma'am!" Bo and Benny exclaimed at the same time.

They turned back and they and the rest of the guys and hurried to the diner, Bo tripping every so often in there haste.

In less then five minutes, the entire team was sitting in the large booth at the diner eating cheeseburgers. They talked a little and had paid and were about to leave when a familiar voice called from across the diner.

"Hey losers!"

They all turned and saw Phillips along with the rest of his team standing there again, just like on Bo's second day in the town, except this time there was a few kids from school there as well.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he saw Bo's dress. "My, my, my. Doesn't little Miss Baseball look hot?"

"Shut up meathead!" Bo snapped angrily.

"That's it." She muttered under her breath. "I don't care what Mrs. Spice says, no more dresses!"

"What did you say?" Phillips asked.

"I said that you're a dung Beatle." Bo snarled. She really wasn't in the mood for this.

"I have to say I'm surprised, Rodriguez." Phillips ignored Bo's remark, "I never thought that I would see two worthless, unwanted kids like you two in church."

"So what were you doing there, Nimrod?" Ham spoke up quickly.

Kenny, Smalls, and Timmy were sliding out of the booth on one side as Bo, Benny, Tommy, and Ham slid out on the other side.

"Good come back, Pork Chop." Phillips sneered. He waited till they all stood facing him before asking. "Do you all plan to make a fight?"

"What if we do, Dork?" Ham asked.

"I'm sorry, Porky," Phillips replied, "But if you never learned to count that's not my fault. But I see only nine of you and fourteen of us."

"We could take you any day!" Ham boasted, but shut up as Benny slapped him.  
"It'd be more like seven on fourteen, Ham." Benny whispered, "This suit wasn't made for fighting and I don't think Bo can fight in a dress." He paused, thought for a moment, and changed his mind. "Well, not very well at least."

Ham frowned as he realized that he was right.

"Come one guys." He pouted, shoving his way to the door. "Let's get out of here. They're not worth our time."

The rest of the gang quickly followed Ham out the door. They started walking down the road when they heard Phillips yell "Get them!"

They paused and turned to see Phillips, his team, and the five other kids running after them.

"Run!" Benny ordered.

Bo started to run, but tripped in her heels.

"Crud!" she shouted.  
She quickly removed the shoes and took off barefoot after the boys, her shoes in her hands.

"You're going to step on a nail or something!" Benny told her breathlessly as they ran.

"Well I can't run with these things on!" Bo replied.  
She risked a look back and saw that Phillips and everyone else had gotten on there bicycles.

"They have bikes!" she shouted.

"Where's the closet house?" Smalls gasped.

"My house!" Benny replied.

They quickly altered there course and ran as fast as they could to Benny's house.

"Run losers! Run!" Phillips shouted as they drew closer.

Somehow, they all managed to outrun the kids on bikes and they flew into Benny's house, Benny slamming the door behind them.  
"Benny." Mrs. Rodriguez said uncertainly as she and Mrs. Spice started at them. "Do I want to know?"

"It's nothing Mom." He gasped. "We'll be in my room."

"Leave the door open!" Mrs. Rodriguez yelled as they walked to Benny's room.

They just sat there for a minute. Benny, Ham, Yeah-Yeah and Smalls sat on the bed, Tommy, Timmy, Squints, and Kenny sat on the floor, and Bo sat in the only chair. After a few moments, Bo got up and looked out the window. She scanned the empty streets quickly.

"There gone." She announced as she sat back down.

"What was that all about?" Smalls asked. "I mean, we haven't done anything to them for them to be mad about."

"We beat them in the baseball game," Ham told him, "They carry a grudge."

"Not to mention that they had five extra people to our nine." Kenny added.

"More like seven." Squints replied, "No offence, but that suit doesn't look easy to fight in Benny. And Bo, you were having trouble walking, you wouldn't have been able to fight."

Bo frowned, but didn't object and Benny nodded in agreement. Kenny looked up at the clock.

"I better get going." He announced, standing up, "My Mom will be wondering where I am."

The rest of the team agreed and soon, everyone was gone. Bo and Benny walked into the living room where Mrs. Rodriguez and Mrs. Spice were drinking tea and talking quietly.

"Hey Mom, Mrs. Spice." Benny greeted.

"Hi Mrs. Rodriguez, Mrs. Spice." Bo echoed.

"Come on in you two." Mrs. Rodriguez forced a smile and motioned to the couch, "Sit down."

They sat down on the couch, opposite of the two women.

"Beauregard, Benny," Mrs. Spice started seriously, "We need to talk."


	13. Chapter 13

**_Here's chapter 13!!!!! Only 3 more chapters!!!!!! Disclamer: I don't ownything_**

CHAPTER 13 Benny Tells All

"Beauregard, Benny." Mrs. Spice started seriously, "We need to talk."

"About what?" Benny asked.

"About the trial." Mrs. Rodriguez got straight to the point. "We're worried about…" she broke off.

"About what Mom?" Benny asked nervously.

"About what you two are going to say." Mrs. Spice replied.

"I'll tell the whole truth." Bo shrugged. "My Dad deserves whatever they give him."

"Benny?" Mrs. Rodriguez turned to her son, sorrow in her eyes.

"I'll tell the truth." Benny replied.

"And what's the truth, honey?" Mrs. Rodriguez asked nervously, "We know what Beauregard will say, but what will you say?"

Benny shifted nervously as he answered softly.

"I'll say that Dad beat me when he was drunk."

"Only when he was drunk?" Mrs. Spice pried.

"Well…" Benny sighed and continued, "He would beat me the most when he was drunk. When he was sober he would only smack me or something and send me to my room. He only pushed me around and hit me when he was drunk."

Mrs. Rodriguez looked on the verge of tears, but she held them back, if only for her son's sake.

"I think it's time we be heading home, Beauregard." Mrs. Spice announced, standing.

Bo stood as well.

"See ya tomorrow Benny." She said. "Bye Mrs. Rodriguez."

Mrs. Rodriguez simply nodded.

"Bye Bo." Benny replied, "Meet you at the corner."

"See ya then." She replied and followed Mrs. Spice out of the house and down the road to the next neighborhood.

Mrs. Rodriguez moved over to the couch and hugged Benny tightly.

"I'm sorry, Benny." She cried, "If I had only known that your father would do something like that, I would have…I would have." She broke down then and sobbed.

"It's all right Mom." Benny told her quietly. "He's a good man, he just has a drinking problem and it changed him."

"You're a good boy, Benny." Mrs. Rodriguez choked. "You don't hold a grudge against any one, even those who hurt you."

"You don't hold grudges either, Mom." Benny replied.

She smiled up at him through her tears.

"You better go change," she announced, wiping her eyes and standing up. "I'll go fix dinner."

Benny nodded and left the room. Mrs. Rodriguez smiled after her son, and then headed into the kitchen.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Chapter 14!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Delilah Anne Marie!!!! You're awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything, sadly. Hope ya'll enjoy the last few chapters!!!!_**

CHAPTER 14 Second Thoughts

Monday flew by for the sandlot gang and Tuesday morning was soon on them. Bo, Benny, and Smalls all walked to school together. Bo kept tripping in her yellow flowered dress and yellow inch high heels. Benny had been forced into his suit again.

"Are you going to be at the trial, Smalls?" Benny asked.

Smalls nodded.

"My parents said that I'm going to testify."

"So we can all leave together." Bo announced.

Smalls shook his head.

"My parents aren't picking me up until ten minutes before the trial starts." He explained.

"Oh." Bo said.

"We better hurry if we're going to get to school in time." Benny said, breaking into a jog.

School went by quickly for Bo and Benny and before they knew it, it was lunchtime.

"See ya guys!" they called as they ran out of the school yard and headed to the courthouse.

The trial didn't start for an hour, but Bo and Benny were suppose to arrive early so that the police could fill them in on what was going to happen. For the next hour, the police did just that. Mr. Hoard told them how Bo's father had been threatening her life ever since they brought him in. He had also threatened Benny's life and those of the rest of the gang. But what really surprised them was what Mr. Hoard said next.

"You're father had said that he would escape and kill Benny in front of you," Mr. Hoard said with five minutes to go, "And Mr. Rodriguez snapped. He hadn't said a word the entire time until then. He told Mr. Evans to shut up and that no one was going to lay a hand on his son." He turned to Benny, "He said to tell you that he's really sorry for what he's done to you. He sounded sincere too."

Benny looked down at the floor.

"You two had better head on out," Mr. Hoard dismissed them.

They nodded and walked out into the long hallway. They didn't say anything. Benny looked thoughtful while Bo just looked determanied.

'This is for you Mom,' she thought, 'He ruined my life and destroyed yours, but now he's going to get what he deserves."

'Am I doing the right thing?' Benny was thinking, 'Sure he beat me a lot, but he could be a really good Dad.'

"You ok, Benny?" Bo asked quietly as they stopped at the door to the courtroom.

"I don't know if I'm doing the right thing." Benny told her just as quiet. "I mean, he was a good Dad whenever he wasn't beating me."

"It's too late to turn back now." Bo replied, "I'm sorry Benny. But look at it this way, the most time is 15 years, but he can get out for good behavior."

When he didn't say anything, she continued.

"I saw how he looked at you last week. He looked really sorry. I think he'll get out of jail soon."

"You don't feel anything for your Dad?" Benny asked.

"My situation is different then yours," she sighed, "Maybe I would have felt something for him if I hadn't seen him murder my mom and best friend in front of me."

"I guess you're right." Benny whispered.

She smiled slightly.

"We better hurry," she announced, "We don't want to be late."

With that, they opened the door and walked in.


	15. Chapter 15

**_Here's another chapter!! I've updated a lot today, but I really wanted to. Hope you like it!!! Disclamer: I don't own anything._**

CHAPTER 15 The Trial

Bo and Benny had to sit in front of the audience. They sat a small table alone with there fathers across the room at a similar table with two guards by them. Smalls sat in the witness chair and the rest of the gang, who had been allowed to come as long as they didn't say a word, sat right behind Bo and Benny.

Smalls looked nervous sitting in the chair in front of the room full of people.

"When did you first notice that Miss Evans was being abused?" one of the lawyers, Mr. Smith, asked pacing the small walking area in front of Smalls.

"About two weeks ago." Smalls replied uneasily.

"And why didn't you confront anyone about it?" Mr. Smith asked gruffly.  
Bo wished that someone, anyone, was there lawyer instead of Mr. Smith. He was gruff and mean.

"I didn't put it together, sir." Smalls told him, "I only realized she was being beaten last week."

"And you are certain she had been abused?" Mr. Smith continued.

"Yes sir." Smalls was sweating. He didn't like being put on the spot.

"How are you certain?"

"Because I could see her bruised and sometimes bleeding from my room." Smalls practically squeaked.

"That's all your honor." Mr. Smith spoke to the Judge.

"Thank you Mr. Smalls." The judge smiled. He was an older gentleman with a kind face. "Miss Evans, would you please come to the witness stand now."

Bo gulped nervously as she slowly got up and walked to sit down. They brought the Bible back out and she swore to tell the truth, then the questioning began.

"How long have you been abused?" Mr. Smith asked as soon as she was seated.

"Since I was five." Bo replied.

She took a deep breath and sat up straight, looking braver then she felt. She could feel her father's hate filled eyes on her.

"And why did he beat you?" Mr. Smith asked the question she had been preparing herself for.

She took another deep breath before responding.

"He blames me for my mother's death."

"And why does he blame you?" Mr. Smith asked emotionlessly.

"Because when I was five," Bo announced, "He and my mother got into a fight over how to raise me. My father got angry and hit her. She was knocked unconscious and then out of fear, he dragged her body to the river and threw her in. He said that if I had never been born then she would still be alive."

Tears had unconsciously formed in her eyes, but she brushed them back with her hand. The courtroom was silent.

"Where did this happen?" Mr. Smith asked, more softly this time.

"In Nevada." Bo replied, her voice strangely calm. "He also killed my best friend."

"Please tell." Mr. Smith responded, shocked.

"Last year my friend Jeremy Matthews got me onto the baseball team," Bo said strongly, "For two weeks all was going well. Then one day, me and Jerry were walking to practice when my dad came running down from our house. He was drunk and was carrying a knife. He grabbed Jerry and stuck the knife in his chest. After he threw Jerry's body to the ground he grabbed me and told me that that was what happened to anyone I hung out with." She paused and let that sink in before continuing, "We moved here when the police in Nevada started to suspect my Dad."

"One last question, Miss Evans." Mr. Smith announced kinder then he had before. "What would your father beat you with?"

"His fists, mostly." Bo told him, "But sometimes he would break a bottle and cut me with that. Sometimes he would throw furniture at me or push me into the furniture."

"That's all your honor." Mr. Smith announced.

"You may take your seat now, Miss Evans." The judge told her, his kind old eyes looking at her kindly. "Mr. Rodriguez, would you please come here. The son." The judge added as one of the guards started to make Benny's father stand.

Benny swore to tell the truth as Bo sat back down in her seat.

"Mr. Rodriguez," Mr. Smith started; the kindness had left his voice as suddenly as it had appeared, "How often does your father beat you?"

"Only when he was drunk and my Mom was gone." Benny replied, glancing at his father.

"And how often is that?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Well," Benny responded, "Mom works every other day, but Dad was usually only drunk about two to three times a week."

"And what would he beat you with?" Mr. Smith asked, emotionless again.

"His fists." Benny told him.

"How long has he been beating you?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Since I was five." Benny sighed.

"That's all I have your honor." Mr. Smith announced.

"You may take your seat, Mr. Rodriguez." The judge told him.

Benny hurried back to his seat and sat quickly, glad it was over.

"There will be a recess until the jury decide on a plea for Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Evans." The judge announced, banging his gavel, "Jury please head to the back room."

The twelve men and women who were on the jury walked out a door in the back room. Talking quickly filled the silence. Bo and Benny were bombarded with questions from the team before the judge banged his gavel again.

"Quieter please!" he called out, "This room echoes!"

The talking continued, but quieter this time. Thirty minutes passed before the jury came back into the room. Silence fell in the room immediately.

"Has the jury come to a decision?" the judge asked.

"Yes your honor we have." On of the men said standing, "We find Mr. Evans guilty of child abuse and murder. And Mr. Rodriguez guilty of child abuse."

The judge nodded before speaking.

"Mr. Evans," he said hardly, glaring at Bo's father. "You are sentenced to thirty years in the state prison until a higher court can see about the murder charge. And Mr. Rodriguez, you have fifteen years with parole options for good behavior." He banged his gavel. "Take them away!"

Mr. Rodriguez walked slowly to the door followed by one of the guards. He put up no resistance, unlike Mr. Evans.

"I'll kill you Beauregard!" he shouted, "You'll wish that you had never been born!"

"Take him away now!" the judge ordered.

The other guard grabbed Mr. Evans and forcefully removed him from the room. The judge turned back to Bo and Benny.  
"Also," he continued, "Miss Evans will be in the custody of Mrs. Loretta Spice for as long as she desires. Mr. Rodriguez will be in the custody of Mr. Joseph Myrtle at night while his mother is at work. During the day, Mr. Rodriguez will be allowed to stay with his mother and on nights when she is not working."

Mrs. Rodriguez was in tears as she heard that. She had been afraid she would lose her son for good.

"Court dismissed!" the judge banged the gavel again, making the decision final.  
Cheers went up over the room. Mrs. Rodriguez hurried to her son and hugged him tightly. Mrs. Spice was close behind her and hurried to Bo and pulled her into a hug as well. The team wasn't far behind and they were jumping up and down and cheering and laughing. They all walked out of the courtroom in smiles, except for Mrs. Rodriguez who was still crying.

The entire group ate at the diner before going there separate ways. Bo and Mrs. Spice went on home and went to bed. Bo lay on her bed with a smile on her face. She no longer had to worry about her Dad beating her.

"I'm all right, Mom." She whispered as she fell asleep. "Dad can't hurt me anymore. You and Jerry can rest in peace."

With that, her eyes shut and she fell into a peaceful sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**_Here's the last chapter!!!!!!!! I hope you've enjoyed this story. Disclamer: I still don't own anything. _**

CHAPTER 16 The Baseball Game

The rest of the week passed by quickly. Bo and Benny quickly fell into their new life styles and before they knew it, it was Saturday. They had all just arrived at the sandlot when, to there misfortune, Phillips and his team rode onto the field.

"Get out of here, Phillips!" Ham ordered, "This is our field!"

"Shut up, Dog Breath." Phillips snapped.

"I see you got a new insults book." Bo couldn't resist saying.

Phillips' face turned red when she said that.

"What do you want, Phillips?" Benny asked.

"A baseball game." Phillips shifted his attention to Benny, "We need the practice, not that you'll give us much, but its better then nothing."  
"We can beat you with our eyes shut, Phillips!" Ham shouted.

"Yeah!" they all agreed.

"Prove it!" Phillips dismounted his bike and the rest of his team followed his example.

"You bat first!" Benny announced.

Phillips and those following him hurried to get ready as the sandlot gang got into there positions.

"Play ball!" Ham yelled as he pulled his helmet down and got ready to catch.

Kenny threw the ball at the person up at bat. The boy swung and the ball landed in Ham's glove.

"Strike one!" Ham shouted happily.

Three outs later, Benny was up to bat. He hit the ball easily and sent it flying into outfield, earning a homerun. Kenny, Smalls, Ham, and Squints all got home and Bo was up to bat. The pitch was thrown and she hit it as hard as she could. The ball flew into the outfield, but landed short of a homerun.

"Run!" her team shouted as she rounded first base.  
One of the boys was fumbling with the ball in the outfield as she reached second base. She took off for third and reached there by the time the ball reached second. She took a few steps off third base and the second basemen threw it to the catcher who ran halfway to her. She moved backwards and the ball was thrown to third.

"Pickle!" Ham yelled.

Bo ran as hard as she could to beat the ball, but the third baseman threw it to the catcher before she could get home. She headed back to third as the catcher chased after her, but she tripped. As she fell, she saw Phillips' grinning face and his outstretched foot. She hurried to stand, but the catcher quickly tagged her out.

"Cheater!" Benny shouted. "You tripped her Phillips!"

The entire team had run over to Bo who had removed her helmet and was glaring at Phillips.

"Not my fault she didn't watch were she was going." Phillips was grinning evilly.  
"Get out of here Phillips." Benny ordered, "We don't play with cheaters."

Phillips just glared at him before surprising them all. He grabbed Bo, pulled her to him, and kissed her full on the lips. She was surprised and didn't react for a moment, but she soon got over that and brought her leg up between his.

Phillips let her go as he doubled over in pain. She wiped her mouth were he had kissed her and spit at his feet.

"Loser." She said, glaring at him.

"Get out of here now!" Benny shouted, stepping forward to stand by Bo.

Some of Phillips teammates helped him up and they all hurried as fast as they could off of the sandlot.

"Now I'm going to have to go home and wash my mouth with soap." Bo announced, looking disgusted.

They all laughed and walked back to there positions. Bo bent to pick up her helmet when Benny put his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him. He smiled at her and she smiled back. They were inches away and they did what came natural. They kissed. They broke off quickly, smiled at each other, and headed back to do what they do best; be friends and play baseball.

The End


End file.
